A House for River
by jm1681
Summary: House encounters a strange teenage girl in the clinic, and after a surreal display, is determined to figure out why she is there. Please review.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Firefly or House, I just think they rule : )

So this came to me during a Lincoln Tech commercial and I had a mess of ideas all at once. I hope I pulled it off alright, enjoy : )

Update 5/6/09 - I fixed a lot of mistakes I didn't catch the first time around, streamlined a few parts, and made a few changes based on some good advice : )

Update 5/13/09 - Fixed a few more things and again trimmed some fat. I think I'm done for good now :)

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River Tam's head and body bobbed left to right, up and down, and back and forth as she attempted to sit still in the clinic at Princeton Plainsboro. Images, memories and feelings of places just like this tearing through her. Places where the Alliance had hurt her so badly, experimented on her and cut into her brain. None of what she heard from the 2 dozen faces in the clinic matched up with their words. Where there should have simply been 24 voices, she heard 48.

"So many faces with so much to say and none of it makes any sense." She said quietly to herself.

Greg House entered Princeton Plainsboro late and limping as always. Taking notice that her star diagnostician was late this morning, Cuddy decided to greet him at the door.

"I understand your throwing caution to the wind lifestyle choices, even those which I truly believe are a latent mid-life crisis like, I don't know…buying a motorcycle. But I would appreciate it if you could at least try to come to work on-time seeing as how you certainly have the means to do so now."

House wasted no time downing his first Vicodin of the day before replying, "And a good morning to you too my princess."

Fully aware of his clinic responsibilities, he quickly turned his attention to the file she held and nonchalantly asked, "So, what do you have for me?"

She immediately flinched pulling the file away, "Are you actually interested in what I'm holding?"

"Well it is my job isn't it, you know…to diagnose sick people?"

Cuddy smiled, "Very cute House." She raised her hand pointing him to the clinic, "You still owe me and we're having a slow morning."

"Do I gotta mom?"

She pushed him off towards the clinic and replied, "Yes you gotta."

House stood before the clinic doors in acceptance of his quick defeat. He sighed aloud and continued into the clinic he so despised. As he crossed the threshold, River's eyes widened and she turned to face him just as he was facing her.

He couldn't put his finger on why, but she had his complete attention. All of the voices in her head dulled as his thoughts began to run through her. He turned back to the rest of the room, sizing everyone up and proceeded to the main desk, occasionally turning back to see if the young girl was still staring at him, her eyes following every step he took.

As he approached the desk, he asked in a tone very unlike House, a tone that almost cared, "What's that girl's story?"

The female attendant replied, "There is no story. She was here when I came in and the attendant who was on call before me doesn't remember her walking in."

"Did anyone get her information?" House asked.

"We were waiting for a doctor. She hasn't said much and what she has said has all been nonsense." The attendant replied.

She handed House a small stack of files, which he accepted, again turning to observe the girl who couldn't seem to stop staring at him.

He turned to face the room and began to call for patients, "Marcus Powell?"

A man in the corner of the room stood up and House approached him. He noticed the man's armpits were stained from sweat and there were handprints of sweat on his pants. Without the man saying anything, House diagnosed him; "You have hyperhydrosis go see Dr. Klein on 3 for a Botox injection."

"But you didn't even…" House cut him off handing the man his own file, "Yeah, we're done here."

He turned back to the other patients, "Christopher Wilkinson?"

Another man in the opposite corner of the room stood up and House again approached him. As he walked, he again couldn't help but notice the unidentified young girl still staring at him.

He came up to the man who had stood and asked, "What seems to be the problem Chris?"

"Aren't you going to look at the file?" He asked.

"No point really, the people that write these things up are idiots, so what seems to be the problem?" House asked.

The attendant behind the desk gave House a snide smile and Chris replied, "I've been having a problem…you know…"

"Chris, there are about a million things you could be having a problem with, tying your shoes, getting it up, going number 2…"

Now flustered as House aired these embarrassing symptoms aloud, Chris replied quietly, "It's going number 1."

"Been to the dentist recently?" House asked confidently.

"Yeah, how'd you…" River shouted from the opposite end of the room cutting Chris off, "Nitrous Oxide poisoning, get yourself some B12."

As House's head snapped to face the girl, her eyes had closed and her head fell to its side. He dropped the files he held and on this rare occasion, hastily hobbled his way over to her. He grabbed a stethoscope from the neck of the attendant behind the desk and pressed it to River's chest as several attendants came to assist him.

"Heartbeat is normal." He raised her eyelid; "Pupils look good, so why is she unconscious?

He pulled away from her baffled, "Admit her and tell Cuddy a patient required my attention."


	2. Chapter 2

In House's meeting room, Foreman, Cameron, and Chase sat around the table, pen and paper at the ready as always.

"Teenage girl comes into the clinic last night. No one sees her come in, and when the attendant tries to get information from her, the girl is speaking nonsense."

"Word salad?" Cameron asked.

"Riddles, third person and what have you. Because the on-call staff was incompetent, they don't get a name or any symptoms out of her they just leave her there. This morning, Cuddy sends me to the clinic and this girl is staring at me."

"Maybe she thought you were cute." Chase mused receiving light laughter from Foreman and Cameron.

House ignored them and continued his story, "So as I'm making my rounds, she's watching me every step of the way and as I was about to deliver a diagnosis filled with whit and sarcasm, she did it for me."

"She made the diagnosis?" Foreman asked.

"Yes she did." House replied.

"Did we get an ID off of her?" Foreman asked.

"Her pockets were empty. All she had on her were the clothes she was wearing." House replied.

"With no identification, we might assume she's a doctor herself. She overheard you discussing the patient's condition and formed her own diagnosis." Foreman replied.

"Oh, I forgot to mention she was on the other side of the clinic at the time." House added.

"The other side?" Foreman asked.

"At least 30 feet away, with no less than 20 people all talking at once. She didn't hear me or the patient, she just knew."

The team sat back in unison.

"Ok, so she talked to him before you showed up." Foreman suggested.

"Attendant said she'd been sitting there all night and the patient I was with only arrived 10 minutes before me."

"So maybe he sat next to her, she freaked him out and he moved as far away from her as he could." Chase suggested.

"The patient was having a pee-pee problem, he took the seat closest to the bathroom." House replied with a grin.

Chase laughed slightly, "So what are you trying to suggest she's psychic?"

Silence, even brief silence on House's part was never a good sign.

"You can't really believe that. I mean, there has to be some kind of rational explanation for it." Cameron replied.

House turned to the blank whiteboard and began to write down what he knew; "Heartbeat was normal when I checked her. Pupils weren't dilated and as far as I could tell using conventional means, she's in good health."

"Conventional means?" Chase asked.

"Weight, blood pressure, everything seems normal." House replied.

"Wow, this must really be getting to you for you to have actually gone out and done real doctor work." Chase snickered.

"It is." He replied simply, silencing the chuckles about the room.

"Get me some blood, do an LP and an MRI of her brain." House ordered.

As the team departed to do House's bidding, his head sank as he contemplated everything he thought he knew was real, as well as everything he supposedly knew was not. Could she really be psychic?

Cameron, Chase and Foreman entered River's room to find her rocking back and forth slightly while sitting up in her bed. She looked as though she was ready to jump out of her skin. Her body was shivering like she were in a deep freeze and yet she just sat there, uncomfortable beyond her capacity to move.

"Sweetie, can you tell me your name?" Cameron asked in a soft and soothing tone to try and get through to her.

River's jaw quivered as she attempted to create words to no avail.

"My name is Allison Cameron, this is Eric Foreman and Robert Chase. We're here to help you but we need to know something, anything about you."

River's head slowly turned to face them, then turned away again as she finally spoke, "You can't stand to be around him. He belittles you, makes you sad but you all trust him invariably."

The three doctors all faced each other.

"You know Dr. House?" Chase asked.

"I know Dr. Tam. He's my brother, he's a very good doctor." River replied innocently.

"Doctor who?" Foreman asked.

"Dr. Simon Tam, he's the lead trauma surgeon in Capital City." She replied with a smile.

"Capital City?" Chase asked quietly with a confused look on his face, "Where is Capital City?" He asked.

"On Osiris." River replied with a smile.

Foreman knelt slightly and asked with his diagnosis written all over his face, "Osiris?"

River read his doubt in her instantly and her face dictated her anger, "Liou coe shway duh biao-tze huh hoe-tze duh ur-tze."

Foreman righted himself and looked to Chase and Cameron with one eyebrow raised.

"She belongs in the psych ward." Foreman said as he, Cameron and Chase burst into House's office.

House's face dictated his sarcasm as he replied, "Did the three of you figure out a way to run 3 hours worth of tests in under 10 minutes? Why it's a technological and medical breakthrough, Stockholm will probably be calling any minute."

"She's talking absolute nonsense. People and places that don't exist, she's got some kind of mental disorder, send her to psych and call it a day." Foreman replied.

"No!" House said infuriated.

None of them had ever seen him so easily aggravated.

"Turn around, go back out that door and get me my blood, my LP, and my MRI." He ordered sternly.

The three of them groaned and made way back to River's room. When they returned, she was as they left her, sitting up and shivering.

As Cameron prepared a butterfly to collect the blood sample, Chase took River's right arm and hastily swabbed it with alcohol before dropping the limp appendage back at her side. Foreman came over and tied off her arm with a tourniquet and Cameron finally stepped in to administer the needle.

As Cameron prodded River's arm with the needle she flinched and instantly began to cry.

"No, no, no, please don't. I'm a good girl I promise, please don't hurt me, please don't…" the volume of her voice elevated and she finally began to scream and twitch and Foreman attempted to restrain her.

She withdrew her arm from Cameron's grasp and the back of her fist struck Foreman's face with the force of a Croquet mallet.

Cameron stepped back as Foreman reeled from the hit. He looked to Chase to hold her and noticed he was laughing slightly.

As he laughed he addressed Foreman's look; "Hey when a patient starts swinging count me out."

River pulled the tourniquet from her arm and returned to the position in which they had found her.

They returned to House's office a few moments later, Foreman holding a bag of ice on his face.

"I know I told you to get blood but I figured you'd at least do it like a doctor."

"I tried to draw blood but she started screaming and thrashing." Cameron replied.

"Seizure?" House asked.

"No, it was fear." Foreman replied.

"So she's afraid of being poked with needles. That tells us nothing and still leaves us with no blood." House replied as he stood from his desk.

He put his coat on and made way to River's room with Cameron, Chase, and Foreman in tow.

As he entered the room, her attention again turned to him immediately and this time the team got to see what he was talking about. He rested his cane against a chair in the room and approached the bed slowly, keeping his eyes trained on hers.

He sat beside her on the bed, took her hand into his and she smiled ever so slightly. Cameron, Chase and Foreman watched on in awe; this was the most human display they had ever seen from House. He peered deep into her large brown eyes, seemingly searching for anything that might give him a clue. He eventually stood and walked out of the room without saying a word.

As Cameron, Chase and Foreman were about to follow, River looked to them sheepishly and said, "I'm ready now."

They breathed a slight sigh of relief and once again prepared to gather some blood when she spoke again, sure to get their complete attention, "But, if you make me hurt, I will make you hurt more."


	3. Chapter 3

Several hours had passed and Cuddy finally tracked House down to his office.

"Didn't I put you in the clinic this morning?" She asked.

He shook his head in aggravation, "Idiots. Yes you did, a patient in the clinic required my attention."

"Really, who?" Cuddy asked not amused in the least.

"Teenage girl. I don't have her name yet, but don't worry, as soon as I do, you'll be the first to know."

She let her guard down a little, "What does this nameless person have?"

He too relaxed a bit, "Don't know that yet either. She doesn't say much so we don't even know why she was in the clinic in the first place. When she does talk it's been nothing but nonsense and when my doctors tried to get blood out of her she was frightened. Girl damn near broke Foreman's nose."

"Abuse?" Cuddy asked.

"Nothing, her body's as clean as the day she was born." House replied.

"Have Cameron check her for sexual abuse." Cuddy replied.

"Well that might give us something but it still puts her in the care of a shrink. I think there's more to it than that."

Cuddy saw this was really bugging him and her face showed her surprise, "Do you know this girl House?"

"No."

"Then why do you care?" Cuddy asked.

"What are you talking about?" House replied curtly in an attempt to hide the fact that he really might have cared.

Losing her patience, Cuddy raised her voice, "Your Rubik's complex is in full swing, what is it about this girl that has you so interested?"

House paused and finally opened up, "I was with a patient this morning in the clinic. A good 30 feet away from this girl and there were at least 20 people whispering, yelling, and just talking over us. Before I could give the patient my diagnosis, she screamed it from the other side of the room."

"So maybe he knew her, maybe she told him something and she figured it out on her own."

"Double-degree in infectious diseases and Nephrology not to mention the best doctor in 5 states and this girl just figured it out?"

"Maybe she's studying to be a doctor and she's just undergone some kind of trauma." Cuddy replied.

"Not good enough."

"Well what House, did she read your mind?" She replied, her patience all but gone.

Again House fell silent and Cuddy immediately jumped down his throat, "Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me?!"

She struggled to calm herself and replied, "House, you know I know how good you are, but if you don't find something real in 24 hours, I want her out of here. And by the way, if they got no information from her, who is paying for her tests?"

"I am." House replied.

Cuddy was baffled but also in admiration of House's dedication to this patient, "I hope you find whatever it is you're looking for House, I really do."

She walked out of House's office and a moment later he stood and made his way back to River's room. As he entered, she again focused on him, much calmer now.

"Hello." She said innocently.

"My name is…" She cut him off, "Doctor Gregory House, attended John Hopkins Medical School and the University of Michigan. You had an infarction in your right leg. Your girlfriend altered your decision while you were in a coma. The decision she made for you cost you the muscle in your thigh, which is why you walk with a limp…"

As she spoke, he took out his bottle of Vicodin and she finished her analysis of him, "…and have an addiction to pain medication."

As she completed her thought, he swallowed a single pill and recapped the bottle. He again made his way over to her.

"I want to help you, but I can't do that if you don't talk to me." House explained.

"I am talking to you."

"Yes but I need you to talk to me about things that are relevant to your condition."

"There is no condition, this is who I am." She replied.

"I think there is a condition. I think something was done to you and you don't want to tell me about it."

River's head sank as Cameron peeked into the room. Her eyes began to flutter and she once again began to shake.

House's eyes narrowed at River's reaction to Cameron as she asked somewhat panicked, "House?!"

House turned to face Cameron then turned back to River again observing her reaction. He left River's room to find Cameron, Chase and Foreman waiting in the hall to give him the results of the tests he ordered. Before they could speak he nodded for them to come away from her room.

They re-entered the meeting room and House picked up the marker for the white board.

"So, what'd you find?"

"You're not going to believe this." Chase replied.

"Ooh, that's exciting, what aren't I going to believe?"

"She has no Amygdala." Foreman replied.

Even House had never heard of a condition like this, "OK, was she born that way or…" Foreman cut him off, "She's got scarring all over the back of her head and her skull has been opened multiple times. Whoever did this to her, they weren't very careful when they did it."

House turned back to the whiteboard; "I can't even think of a funny way to write that on the board."

"We need to find out who did this to her and why." Cameron said in River's defense.

House turned back to face Cameron, "Cuddy asked me to have you do a rape kit."

"Alright, but that won't explain anything that was done to her. It's a waste of time." Cameron replied.

"Yeah, tell Cuddy her idea is a waste of time and that's why we didn't do it, she likes that." House replied.

"You know I'm right." Cameron replied.

House turned his head down as he replied, "Yeah, I do."

There was silence in the room for nearly 2 minutes before Foreman finally broke it, "What are we doing here?"

House said nothing; he simply turned and walked back to River's room. He closed the door behind him and stared into her eyes once again.

With no apparent prompting on House's part, River spoke, "Yes."

Again he remained silent as River answered a question that came from nowhere, "Bad doctors."

Another pause, another reply, "To make me a more efficient weapon."

A final pause and she replied once more, "River Tam."


	4. Chapter 4

House opened the door and walked back into the meeting room, his face as white as if he had just seen a ghost.

"House, what?" Cameron asked.

He was stupefied. He had no explanation that would satisfy any of their questions save for the simplest one and it defied reason.

Finally he replied, "The first time you went in to see her, what did she say before she hit you?"

"Something about her brother being a doctor." Foreman replied.

"Did she give his name?" House asked.

"Yeah, she said his name was Simon Tam." Chase replied.

House smiled, "I have good news, our patient, whose name happens to be River Tam, isn't crazy like Foreman thought."

"So what's wrong with her?" Foreman asked.

"We'll know for sure after Cameron does Cuddy's rape kit, which by the way you should be doing…"

Cameron made a face at House and left the room as House continued, "…but right now I'm going to say nothing is wrong with her."

"But what about the people who did this to her and why?" Chase asked.

"She said the bad doctors were trying to make her a more efficient weapon." House replied.

"A weapon? For what, like the military?" Foreman asked.

"Hard to say. The rumors that several countries experimented on their soldiers with mind altering drugs and techniques are far too many to be just rumors."

"So you think some army out there was experimenting with a hundred pound girl to make her what, an assassin?" Chase asked.

House pondered for a minute, "When Cameron comes back you two bring our girl downstairs for a muscle stimulus. Test every part of her; then check her vision, her hearing, tactile response; the works."

As Foreman and Chase left the room, House called to them one more time, "Remember she has a name now, use it, it might help her trust you."

House looked about the room for a few moments and headed out.

James Wilson was in the middle of something as usual when House walked into his office uninvited. He walked over to the chair in front of Wilson's desk, pushed a stack of papers onto the floor and sat down.

"Hey House come on in, we'll talk about whatever's on your mind."

"I have a teenage girl whose Amygdala has been removed." House replied.

Wilson's face and body language told his shock, "Do you know who did it to her?"

"No and I'm fairly certain that its removal has put her in a state of psychological trauma that I don't think a treatment exists for. But that's not even the best part. Since she's been here, I've had not one, but two conversations with her that never required me to open my mouth."

"How fortunate for her." Wilson replied.

House smiled slightly, but his face gave up none of his typical tells.

"You're serious about this?" He asked, just barely willing to believe his friend.

House nodded and Wilson continued his thought, "So what are you trying to tell me, a side effect of removing her Amygdala has made her what, psychic?"

"I don't believe I've ever read, heard or even dreamt of a patient in a condition like this. Without an Amygdala she's a receiver; she feels everything."

"So what, you want to keep her like a pet?" Wilson asked sarcastically.

"Of course not, my name's not Foreman."

"So what then?"

"She hasn't told anyone why she's here yet. We assume she's here because she's sick, but we haven't found a thing. Her blood is pristine, and aside from the scars where they cut her head open her body is clean."

"No signs of sexual abuse?"

"Cameron is checking her now but I know that's not going to go anywhere."

"So why does someone who is in perfect mental and physical health come to a clinic?" Wilson asked.

House tapped his cane on the floor a few times before standing from the chair and exiting the office without another word.

Wilson looked towards the door and shouted, "So you'll pick up those papers later right? OK thanks House."

When House returned to the meeting room, he found Cameron waiting for him.

"Results of the rape kit?"

"Negative, she's never had sex." Cameron replied.

"Wow, you think I've got a shot?" House asked.

Cameron rolled her eyes and asked, "So what now?"

"Chase and Foreman are running her through a muscle stimulus and a few tests for her senses. She said "they" were trying to make her a better weapon. I want to see what, aside from the obvious would make anyone interested in a hundred pound girl as a weapon." House replied.

"What do you really think is going on here House?" She asked.

In an unprecedented move, House sat at the table and replied, "I don't know."


	5. Chapter 5

Chase returned to the meeting room a few minutes later flustered, "You need to see this."

House and Cameron stood and followed Chase.

In another lab in the hospital, River laid on a table with a few sensors strapped to her arms and legs in a room opposite and separate from the room her doctor's had congregated in.

As House and Cameron entered the room, Foreman began to explain what they had found; "Her muscle density is off the chart. Granted her muscles are small because of her size, the density of the muscle fibers is like nothing I've ever seen."

"What about her senses?" House asked.

"Also astronomical. Visual acuity is 20/6, which is better than some birds; tactile response borders on pre-cognoscente and her hearing is as good as our system is capable of measuring." Chase added.

House frowned slightly, "No sexual abuse, no physical abuse, nothing viral, nothing in her brain no pun intended."

"I'm starting to get on board with the crazy talk so if you have something on your mind, talk." Foreman peacefully demanded of House.

"I think she's been completely honest about everything she's told us." House replied.

"Whatever happened to everyone lies?" Chase asked.

"She isn't everyone, she's a girl and she's lost." House replied as he looked in on River through the glass.

A few minutes had passed. River was returned to her room and House joined her just a few moments later. While she had typically not been upset around House, this time she began to quiver in fear.

"Why are you here?" He asked the frightened girl.

"She's not a girl, not even a person, just a thing." She replied with broken speech.

"Is that what you think you are, a thing?"

"Not think, am. No one to care for her, no one to hold her and tell her she'll be ok. No one to tell her she's real."

"I've run every test I could conscionably think to do. You're extraordinary, but there is nothing wrong with you. Nothing that makes you anything less than human." House replied.

"Not human, not real." She looked up to House with glazed over eyes and tear soaked cheeks, "All she wants is to be a girl."

House bit his lip in momentary thought of her comment.

Outside in the parking lot, House mounted his motorcycle and looked to River who stood beside him as he fired up the bike. She flinched when the engine turned over but slowly developed a smile as she observed the machine.

"C'mon, let's go for a ride." House offered.

River smiled and climbed onto the back of the bike. She placed her hands on his waist and House wasted no time reaching down and wrapping her arms around him.

They both smiled and River rested her head on his back as he pulled away. As they rode, her wide grin was unshakable. The wind took control of her hair and for once, all she could hear was the engine beneath them, and all she could feel was the sun on her face.

Later that day, Cameron wheeled a still smiling River through the hospital's lobby towards the front doors. As they reached the front doors, River stood from the wheelchair and turned to face House who stood at the desk in the lobby. She walked back to him and gently wrapped her arms around him.

As usual when a patient expressed gratitude to House, he didn't react at first. But with his team and Cuddy watching on, he lifted his left hand around her back and pulled her to him in somewhat of a half-hug.

They pulled apart from each other and she addressed him this last time, "Thank you Gregory."

He stared into her eyes and she smiled slightly as she read his thoughts.

She turned back to the front doors and waved goodbye to Cameron, Foreman and Chase before crossing the threshold.

"Bye." River said aloud as her eyes slowly opened in the infirmary aboard Serenity revealing Simon, and Mal.

"Mei mei? Can you hear me?" Simon asked.

"Of course I can Simon. What happened?" She asked.

Simon was at a loss. He was uncomfortable with what led to River fainting but what had happened wasn't entirely on the other party's shoulders.

"You kissed Mal and you fainted." Simon replied.

River turned to face Mal, the memory of what had happened finally becoming clear to her.

Ashamed of what she had done, River replied, "I'm sorry captain."

Mal shrugged his shoulders; "I didn't really mind none…"

Simon cleared his throat with all manner of fury in his eyes as Mal finished his thought, "…but you are a bit young fer me."

"Why did you kiss him Mei Mei?" Simon asked.

"Sometimes a girl just needs to remember what she is." She replied as she stood from the table.

As she walked to the infirmary door, she stood on her toes and gave Mal a kiss on the cheek before walking through to the common area.

As she ascended the stairs to the galley, Mal couldn't hide his smile as he addressed Simon, "Hey doc, how do you feel about…"

Simon closed his eyes tight as he cut Mal off, "Hurt her and I swear I can make you die a dozen different ways."


End file.
